STATEMENT: Neera Tanden on the Senate Voting to Reject Key Amendments of the Gun Bill

Washington D.C. — The Senate failed this afternoon to pass key amendments to the gun bill, including a measure that would expand background checks to individuals who purchase guns at gun shows or online. Neera Tanden, President and CEO of the Center for American Progress, released the following statement:

Every day that we fail to pass comprehensive background checks is a day we put at risk the safety of our children, our law enforcement, our neighbors—indeed, the safety of all Americans. That’s because every day 33 Americans are murdered with guns, too often by criminals and other dangerous individuals already prohibited under the law from gun possession but who acquire guns with no questions asked. The price of the Senate’s inaction will be paid by the Americans whose names will be added to the list of gun-violence victims every day as a result.

Nine in 10 Americans agree that every gun buyer should go through a criminal background check. Today a majority of the U.S. Senate agreed, but a majority wasn’t enough to overcome obstruction.

Although the toll of gun violence gets ever higher, so too does our resolve. We will remember those who’ve been lost to gun violence. We will also remember today’s votes. And tomorrow and every day thereafter, we will continue our campaign to say: “No more names.”

Families of victims, survivors of gun violence, and gun-violence-prevention advocates are memorializing the more than 3,300 men, women, and children who have been killed by guns since the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. Titled the #NoMoreNames vigil, the round-the-clock public demonstration has been taking place for nearly 90 hours and is intended to remember those who have tragically lost their lives by urging Congress to approve common-sense gun-violence-prevention measures.

Among the family members and victims participating at the #NoMoreNames vigil have been Lori Haas, whose daughter Emily was shot at Virginia Tech; Peter Read, father of Mary Karen Read, who was shot and killed at Virginia Tech; Jillian Soto, whose sister Vicki Soto died shielding her students at Sandy Hook Elementary School; Emily Nottingham, the mother of former Rep. Gabby Giffords’ (D-AZ) staffer Gabe Zimmerman, who was shot and killed in Tucson, Arizona, in the attack on Rep. Giffords’ life; Colin Goddard, who was shot multiple times at Virginia Tech and survived; Omar Samaha, brother of Reema Samaha, who was shot and killed at Virginia Tech; and Steve Barton, survivor of the Aurora, Colorado, shooting.

The #NoMoreNames campaign is being organized by gun-violence-prevention advocates from the Center for American Progress Action Fund, Americans for Responsible Solutions, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Coalition To Stop Gun Violence, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, chapters of the Million Mom March, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, Newtown Action Alliance, Organizing for Action, the PICO National Network, Project to End Gun Violence, Protest Easy Guns, Sojourners, and the Women’s Donor Network.